Memphis area unemployment rate rose to 9.6 percent in June

Unemployment in the eight-county Memphis metropolitan area rose to 9.6 percent in June.

That represents an increase of eight-tenths of a percentage point from May's revised rate of 8.8 percent, the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday.

The unemployment rate for Shelby County, the biggest county in the Memphis metro area, rose to 9.7 percent, up from the May rate of 8.8 percent.

Among other major metropolitan counties in Tennessee, Knox (Knoxville) had the state's lowest jobless rate, 6.7 percent, up from 6.0 percent in May. Davidson County (Nashville) was 7.3 percent, up from 6.7 percent in the previous month. Hamilton County (Chattanooga) was 8.3 percent, up from 7.4 percent.

The jobless rate for the city of Memphis, all of which is in Shelby County, rose to 11 percent last month, up from a revised 9.9 percent in May.

"I think it's a pretty big increase. I think it's a sign that the overall economy has not grown like we had hoped," said John Gnuschke, a longtime economist at the University of Memphis.

"The impact of it is evident in Memphis in the unemployment rate. It's a move in the wrong direction. The most serious implication is for African-American families. Their unemployment rate is dramatically higher anyway. The impact is magnified for those families."

The state estimates that there were 60,400 unemployed people looking for work in the Memphis area last month — an increase of 5,700 people. Of those currently considered unemployed but seeking work, 54 percent of them live in the city of Memphis.

Across Tennessee, the jobless rate rose in all 95 counties in June. The state's unemployment rate in June was 8.1 percent, up from 7.9 percent in May. The nation's rate was 8.1 percent in June, unchanged from the previous month.

Unlike state and national unemployment estimates, the local unemployment data is not seasonally adjusted.